How to use native Screen Sharing in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion) has an excellent screen sharing app built right into the operating system. The screen sharing app enable you to access and control the screen of another computer on your network. I like using in on my MacBook Air when I want to quickly access our family iMac. It’s perfect for troubleshooting the computer outside of the room or doing a function that’s not available on my notebook computer.

Enabling Screen Sharing

The first step in setting up screen sharing is to enable it on the Mac you want to connect to. Go to System Preference and then click on the Sharing icon. Then check Screen Sharing to turn it on.

Sharing a Screen

Change to the computer you want to use to access the other computer. Go to the Finder and look for the computer you just turned screen sharing on for. Click on the computer and then click on the Share Screen button.

If it’s the first time you’ve connected to the computer, it will request that you authenticate with an active account on the target computer. Once you successfully authenticate, it will start sharing the screens.

Activating Full Screen Sharing

One of the key features in Lion is its ability to display apps in full screen. This of course is perfect for sharing the screen of another computer. To activate full screen mode, click on the full screen icon/button on the upper-right side of the shared screen app.